Being John Malkovich Means Chasing Down Muggers With Sean Penn [Video]

Yahoo TV

kellywooJuly 11, 2013

John Malkovich is a man of many talents, but more than that — he's a hero!

On "The Tonight Show" last night, the Oscar-nominated actor recounted saving a man's life in Toronto a few weeks ago. Malkovich was in the city to perform at the opera (yes, he can sing too) when he came across a man who had accidentally slit his throat on some scaffolding.

"I was a bit shocked at first, but then I had a scarf and took it off just to try and stanch the bleeding, which there was quite a bit of," he told host Jay Leno.

The man, a tourist from Ohio, was taken to the hospital and recovered. The tour leader offered to buy Malkovich a drink, but he had to go to rehearsal.

And that's not the only time the actor has displayed heroics. Leno brought up the story of the time that Malkovich and Sean Penn chased down a mugger.

"This was when Sean was married to Madonna, so the paparazzi were constantly torturing him," the actor explained. When the mugger snatched a purse from a woman in a restaurant, another friend of theirs suggested that they go after him.

He then described another "altercation … that involved some harsh words and a butcher knife."

Who had the knife? Leno wanted to know. "I did," Malkovich said. Apparently, some guy on the street said some nasty things to him, so he went to his apartment to change clothes and grab the knife. He returned to the street and "asked him if he wanted to carry on the discourse."